Hugs and kisses!

The lovely and very talented Di is running a competition over on Tando Creative at the moment. The prize is something a little bit special as it's completely unique and brings together the work of 11 papercrafters. Di invited us to decorate a piece each for a "Hugs & Kisses" game board. It's a larger version of the board available from Tando and having settled on a brown and cream colour scheme, we each decorated either a hug (heart) or a kiss (X) without seeing each other's work.

Everything is now finished and all together so I can show you my piece. I must confess to finding the shape a bit of a challenge but once I got going it came together fine!

I gessoed my piece and then sponged Antique Linen Distress ink over it before stamping a script stamp in Latte and the little key in Espresso. I did the same on the back of the piece, too.

The little tab is stamped with the sentiment and sponged a little. I tinted an acrylic nail teeny-tiny gem with a Copic so it matched the peach tone of the rose better and finished off with a key charm and a bit of gold acrylic paint around the cut edge of the piece.

Stamps (Cornish Heritage Farms):
Key Elements (All Things Considered line)
Key Expressions (Mona Lisa Moments line)

Paper:
Tando chipbaord game piece
Simply smooth vanilla (CHF)

Ink:
Tim Holtz Distress ink by Ranger (Antique Linen)
Adirondack dye ink by Ranger (Espresso, Latte)

Other:
Gesso
Paper rose
Key charm
Linen thread
Acrylic nail art gem
Gold acrylic paint

If you'd like to see the finished board and all the pieces and find out how you could be in with a chance to win it for yourself, check out the details here on the Tando blog. You'll find details of Tando stockists too if you follow the "shop" link from the blog and then click on the "stockists" link under the "Articles" heading on the left.

Thanks for stopping by today, hope your weekend is filled with hugs and kisses!

Shabby chic chintz

One of the very first things that drew me to Cornish Heritage Farms was the range of background stamps. I may have a phobia of patterned paper but give me a background stamp and I'm happy. Nope, makes no sense to me either! I've gone shabby chic with this latest release, Vintage Chintz. I decided to play up the fabric connection by using the faux linen technique. This is an easy way to add texture and variation to a stamped piece - just stamp on glossy cardstock and then use sandpaper first vertically and then horizontally to create the linen "weave". Sponge on a lighter ink colour to provide extra variation and interest. Of course the fashionista ladies seemed like a perfect choice for a fabric-inspired piece! I love this sophisticated pair. Stamps (Cornish Heritage Farms): Vintage Chintz Backgrounder (releasing Friday 29th January) Haute Couture (All Things Considered line) Paper: Glossy cardstock by Ranger Simply Smooth Vanilla (CHF) Ink: Adirondack dye ink by Ranger (Espresso, Latte) Other: Copic markers Nestabilities by Spellbinder (Labels Four) Paper flowers Glimmer Mist by Tattered Angels (Coffee Shop) Glitter and velvet brads (Making Memories) Vintage lace Hope you're having a great weekend, thanks for taking the time to stop by!

Double challenge!

Sorry - look away now if you don't want to see a Christmas card just yet! Over on the Bubbly Funk forum we decided to do our "25th Club" again. The idea is to spread out the card making over the year rather than leave it all to November/December by making a certain number by the 25th of each month. I'm aiming for two cards per month.

To try to keep us motivated, we're having a theme or challenge each month. I set January's and it was to use turquoise/silver, something shiny or sparkly and a swirl of some sort. Despite the fact I set the recipe, I have in fact forgotten the swirl on this one! I was concentrating so hard on trying to combine with Kathy's sketch challenge that I clean forgot to get swirly. Can I just claim those snowflakes are creating swirls as they fall, do you think?!

Kathy set a sketch challenge on the Bubbly Scrumptious blog {here}. I've turned it through 180 degrees and "dangled" the snowflake from some stitched silver lines for the vertical lines on the sketch.

Stamps (Cornish Heritage Farms):
Night Before Christmas (Rummage Bin line)

Paper:
Simply Smooth
Black
Vellum

Ink:
Versamagic by Tsukineko (Turquoise Gem)

Other:
Snowflake Wonder dies by Spellbinder
DekoIce glitter (Efco)
Sewing machine and metallic silver thread
Crystal brad

Right, only one more Christmas card this month! I'll try to remember all the ingredients next time ;o)

Thanks for stopping by!

Oriental influence

Have you noticed how Oriental influences seem to be ever-present? While many trends come and go, it seems that Asian-inspired art is never very far away. Continuing that long tradition, the Saturady Evening Post release at CHF today is Asian Portraits. Pulling together cover art from the 1920s and 30s, the set has plenty of variety.

I thought this lovely woman had a dreamy look about her so I found a web site with Japanese (kanji) characters here and printed off "dream" to make the charm here - it's hanging from a fishing swivel to give it some movement.

Stamps (Cornish Heritage Farms):
Asian Portraits (Saturday Evening Post line)

Paper:
Simply Smooth
Black

Ink:
Brilliance by Tsukineko (Graphite Black)

Other:
Copic markers
Cuttlebug corner embossing folder
Silver metallic thread and sewing machine
Nestabilities by Spellbinder (Labels 9)
Medium circle squeeze punch by Fiskars
Fishing swivel
Glossy Accents by Ranger

I blogged another couple of projects over on the CHF Be Creative blog if you'd like to see what happens when a ginger jar is not a ginger jar!

Thanks for stopping by today!

About time I chicked in

Happy New Year everybody! Sorry I'm a bit slow off the mark - blogging seems to have fallen a bit by the wayside over the festive season. The horrible cold and cough probably didn't help much. So, I thought it was about time to "chick in" ;o)

Tom Allen has been around at Cornish Heritage Farms for a while now - he's the illustrator behind the Friendly Kritters line of stamps. Tom's just launched a new line at CHF called Tom Fun and hard on the heels of some adorable bears comes the Spring Chicks and More set so I thought I'd share a couple of cards I created with that.

The first is a clean and simple, one layer card created for a little boy's birthday - no frills and doo-dads for him to pull off! A little bit of masking and reverse masking and a dab of Glossy Accents for the balloon means there's still plenty of interest though, I love it when you manage to pull off a card with impact using minimal supplies!

Then I had a little fun teaming up the chick in overalls with a truck from one of the General Motors sets. Maybe I was in a masking kind of mood since I did it here too! I think simple masking was the first stamping technique I saw that made me say "oh, oh, oh!" and jump up and down with excitement! I still get a fantastic childish kick when I peel the mask off and reveal a scene! You know the kind of thing: "It worked, it worked - look! The chick is standing right in front of the truck! Yay!" lol!

I added some denim from an old pair of jeans for interest and to play up his overalls. Denim just needs orange stitching though, doesn't it?

There are more cute stamps in this set - you'd never guess it from these two cards but it's actually the perfect set for Easter (bunnies, chicks and eggs galore!).

Stamps for both cards (Cornish Heritage Farms):
Spring Chicks and More (Tom Fun Collection - releasing Friday 15th January)

Birthday card:
Birthday Centers tamp set (Mona Lisa Moments line)
Smooth white cardstock
Adirondack dye inkby Ranger (Espresso, Stonewashed)
Tim Holtz dye ink by Ranger (Shabby Shutters)
Number rub on
Copic markers
Glossy Accents by Ranger

Truckin' Chickie card:
Keep on Truckin' stamp set (General Motors line)
Simply Smooth cardstock
Copic markers
Denim (old jeans)
Sewing machine and thread
Antique copper mini brads (Making Memories)

Thanks for stopping by!

Love birds

Typography is fun, isn't it? I don't know about you but I can spend hours choosing the "perfect" font for a project. I'll find something I like and then something like the shape of the descender on the letter "g" will put me off and I'll go hunting for something else!

This new Scrapblock appealed to my sense of typography as a great design element. I love the mix of fonts and styles (some words are very crisp, others have a weathered or eroded look to them). I teamed it up with the Tree Swallows to make a "love birds" card that could be used for an engagement, anniversary or even a wedding - what do you think?

I thought it would be fun to mix the rustic texture of Distress embossing powder with some dressier elements of lace and pearls. The pearls came in one of my advent packages from my Secret Santa over on the Bubbly Funk Forum - we're having great fun opening a small package each day during advent and we have a slightly larger gift to open on Christmas day. We had a £5 limit on these so the emphasis is on fun rather than big bucks - perfect! So thank you Santa, the pearls were just what I needed for this!

Stamps (Cornish Heritage Farms):
Love Scrapblock (releasing Friday 18th December)
Tree Swallows Silhouette

Paper:
Smooth white

Ink:
Tim Holtz Distress ink by Ranger (Vintage Photo)

Other:
Tim Holtz Distress Embossing Powder by Ranger (Walnut Stain)
Copic markers (Brick Beige, Chamois)
Sewing machine and thread
Vintage lace
Flat back pearls

Thanks for stopping by, hope your Christmas preparations are under control (or at least you're at the stage you don't care if they're not!).

Getting inky!

I've not had much chance to get inky for a while so I thought I'd make up for it and really slosh the stuff around when I did manage to grab a short crafty session a few days ago!

I smooshed three Distress inks onto a non-stick sheet, spritzed with water and dunked a chippie ATC directly on there to soak up the colour. Vintage ledger lines provided some interest and then the rest is just overstamped in black with various images from the same set.

Those gear wheels are done using a technique I saw on Julia Andrus' web site - triple emboss a die cut shape and while the embossing is still warm (but not too hot - watch your fingers!) rub some Perfect Pearls on there. The Pearls will bond to the molten embossing powder and give you a great metallic sheen - I used Heirloom Gold powder over black embossing here.

Dots of Glossy Accents over the letters of TRAIN made them look a bit like buttons on a control panel, I thought.

So while I had the set out, I thought I might as well make full use of it! I made these fridge magnets by die cutting circles from stamped images, sponging with ink and covering with Glossy Accents. When dry, I flexed them a bit for a cracked glass effect and then stuck them to magnets.

Stamps for both projects (Cornish Heritage Farms):
Train Timetable set (Baltimore & Ohio Railroad line - releasing Tuesday 15th December)

ATC additional supplies:
Vintage Ledger Scrapblock
White chipboard ATC
Tim Holtz Distress ink by Ranger (Fired Brick, Spiced Marmalade, Mustard Seed, Vintage Photo)
Versafine by Tsukinkeo (Onyx Black)
Glossy Accents
Perfect Pearls (Heirloom Gold)
Gears #1 die (Thincuts by Accucut)

Magnets additional supplies:
Tim Holtz Distress ink by Ranger (Vintage Photo)
Glossy Accents
Magnets
Classic Circle Nestabilites by Spellbinder

Thanks for stopping by, hope you are finding time to craft too!

Kinkade Windows

It's my turn to do the weekly tutorial over on the CHF Be Creative blog and today's technique focuses on selective colouring. Find out how to bring a homely glow to a Kinkade window and leave a comment over there if you'd like to be in with a chance of winning the Foxglove Cottage stamp (still my favourite Kinkade stamp, I think!)

Kinkade Windows Tutorial

Stamps (Cornish Heritage Farms):
Foxglove Cottage East or West, Home is Best

Paper:
Simply Smooth
Kraft

Ink:
Versafine by Tsukineko (Onyx Black)

Other:
Prismacolor Pencils/OMS/Stump
Sewing machine and thread
Brad
Labels One Nestabilities by Spellbinder

Thanks for stopping by!

Soak away the ills!

It's the season of coughs and sniffles, isn't it? I've been having fun with some new images from the Saturday Evening Post line to make some pick-me up projects.

Masculine get well cards are even more difficult that average, I reckon - flowers are an easy fall back for feminine ones but the blokes are a bit more tricky. I think this would work though!

I was so pleased to find the sentiment fits perfectly on the end of the bath tub and I stamped the "Sorry you are ill" phrase to make a pattern on the paper at the top. A small scale Basic Grey pattern that's slightly reminiscent of old-fashioned tiling and a little Glossy Accents on the tub's feet and rim and you're done!

Stamps (Cornish Heritage Farms): Common Cold (Saturday Evening Post line - releasing Friday 4th December)

Paper:
Prism Island Mist Medium
Simply Smooth
Offbeat patterned paper by Basic Grey

Ink:
Brilliance by Tsukineko (Graphite Black)
Tim Holtz Distress by Ranger (Weathered Wood)
Adirondack dye ink by Ranger (Espresso)

Other:
Copic markers
Glossy Accents
Paper frill (Doodlebug)
Corner Chomper
Labels Four Nestabilities by spellbinder

Then I thought it would be fun to try using the same image for something other than a get-well project. This would make a great way to present a spa treatment token or dress up a little bottle of bath bubbles or massage oil.

I used an empty ribbon spool to make the base of the tube and stuck a strip of corrugated card (found at my local pound shop - any sturdy card would do) around it. Just tuck tissue in to finish off the top.

The bubbles are doodled and have dots of Glossy Accents over them to make them shiny.

Stamps (Cornish Heritage Farms): Common Cold (Saturday Evening Post line - releasing Friday 4th December)

Paper:
Simply Smooth
Corrugated blue

Ink:
Brilliance by Tsukineko (Graphite Black)
Fluid Chalk ink by Clearsnap (Ice Blue)

Other:
Copic markers and Multiliner
Glossy Accents
Silk ribbon
Dymo label maker
Labels Four Nestabilities by Spellbinder
Empty ribbon spool

Thanks for stopping by, hope you are not in need of a get-well wish yourself but take plenty if you are!

Baby love

Do you have some types of card that you always struggle with? For me, it's baby and wedding cards! I think the baby ones just got easier though - Baby Dear and Vintage Baby Expressions should help things along! I do like a bit of vintage so if I just forget the baby bit and focus on the vintage bit things should go along much easier!

I went for a mono sepia look on this card, aiming for a sort of vintage photo look. The base layer and the border inside the cut out circle are coloured with a marker so this is a minimum supplies project - just white cardstock, a handful of markers, embossing folder, a couple of pearls and a die cut.

Stamps (Cornish Heritage Farms):
Baby Dear (Rummage Bin line)
vintage Baby Expression (Mona Lisa Moments line)

Paper:
Smooth White

Ink:
Adirondack dye ink by Ranger (Espresso)

Other:
Copic markers
Textile Texture Embossing Folder
Pearls (Kaiser)
Labels Four Nestabilites by Spellbinder
Fiskars circle cutter

I bought the blossom top box template from Everything Creative a few weeks back and finally got chance to play. I was so pleased to find that the ETA stamp from the Baby Dear set is an absolutely perfect fit! I alternated it with the stork from the Vintage Baby Expressions set around the six sides of the box and finished off with faux brads - they're just cardstock punched out with a Crop-a-Dile and coloured with the ink pad.

Wouldn't this be a cute way to present a tiny gift to an expectant mum? Any favour box would look great with the same treatment.

Stamps (Cornish Heritage Farms):
Baby Dear (Rummage Bin line)
vintage Baby Expression (Mona Lisa Moments line)

Paper:
Smooth White

Ink:
Adirondack dye ink by Ranger (Espresso)

Other:
Copic markers
Pearls (Kaiser)
Labels Four Nestabilites by Spellbinder
Fiskars circle cutter

Thanks for stopping by!